[Lan647]

Quote:

 
Sorry I can't say much about the portable desktop amp as I have not heard the combination. But spec wise, it does look up to the task. I would PM aimlink and see what he thinks as I believe he owns that amp/dac.
 
If you need a portable solution, you would be hard pressed to find any better. Now if you can live with a desktop only solution, I would suggest that you look into tube amps as they match very well with the HD800s. A Woo6 or MAD tube amp + desktop dac would also go a very long way IMO.

Yes, please do so. 

Yes it reached my ears that the HD 800 matches well with tubes, though I won't start off with a tube amp. I mean the headphones are (or... will be) there, and I have time to upgrade my equipment multiple times, so one day I might get myself a tube amp. Money doesn't grow on trees, though - which sucks...

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

 
But the Micro amp is far form ideal for a home setting.
 
It appears that your budget is $1200 for an amp/dac...
 
You could get a $700 amp + DacMagic ($350) + Headroom Micro Amp ($180 used on the F/S forum). Now you could have a killer home setup and a very nice portable amp to drive them when you're not at home. Of all the portable amps I've heard, none were better than the Headroom Micro for driving the HD800s.
 

My budget is NOT 1200 dollars for an amp/dac. Or, well maybe - but it would ruin me

 

As I said, you have to start somewhere. The plan was - Headphones + satisfying amp for portable/home use, and after a while, when the wallet has recovered (he-he) I'll get a killer amplifier for true hifi-use. Sounds fair, no?

Thanks for the answers, man - you are definitely the first one to come with VERY useful answers

 

 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

My budget is NOT 1200 dollars for an amp/dac. Or, well maybe - but it would ruin me

 

As I said, you have to start somewhere. The plan was - Headphones + satisfying amp for portable/home use, and after a while, when the wallet has recovered (he-he) I'll get a killer amplifier for true hifi-use. Sounds fair, no?

Thanks for the answers, man - you are definitely the first one to come with VERY useful answers

 

 

No problem...I just assumed your budget was $1200 because you asked whether the Headroom desktop portable amp was a good choice and it sells for $1200.
 
On the cheap, the Portable Micro Amp (with the built in DAC for $400) is a great start and should keep you happy while you save up for a full sized rig.
 

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

No problem...I just assumed your budget was $1200 because you asked whether the Headroom desktop portable amp was a good choice and it sells for $1200.
 
On the cheap, the Portable Micro Amp (with the built in DAC for $400) is a great start and should keep you happy while you save up for a full sized rig.
 

Where did you find it for the price of 400 dollars including DAC? On the headroom site it costs 599 dollars. Remember - I'm Swedish, the site has to be able to ship it here as well...

 

[Lan647]

And... there is one other thing. The wall plug for the US is of course different then the one used here. Don't blame me for not knowing, but I have not really thought about that. Is there some kind of adapter you can use for that purpose?? 

 

[noris83]

I'm going to second getting a DAC. Anything in 200-300 range will be way better than the iPhone. With the HD800s you'll notice a tremendous difference. The portable HR desktop amp is supposed to one of the best portable amps on the market. Pretty sure it uses the same electronics as the regular desktop amp too.
 
My personal recommendation would be to get something like the regular Headroom Desktop Amp since it has a built in DAC and a very good amp (used to be $999 a year ago). Then get a second portable amp specifically for the few times you'll spend on the road. Headroom's Airhead is apparently decent with higher end headphones and would connect easily to your iPhone. Total cost for both would be $898 or ~700 Euros. If you were also to buy the HD800s from Headroom they might be able to do a package deal for you. I know they had their Bithead on for $79 last year if you bought headphones over $50 at the same time.

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

I'm going to second getting a DAC. Anything in 200-300 range will be way better than the iPhone. With the HD800s you'll notice a tremendous difference. The portable HR desktop amp is supposed to one of the best portable amps on the market. Pretty sure it uses the same electronics as the regular desktop amp too.
 
My personal recommendation would be to get something like the regular Headroom Desktop Amp since it has a built in DAC and a very good amp (used to be $999 a year ago). Then get a second portable amp specifically for the few times you'll spend on the road. Headroom's Airhead is apparently decent with higher end headphones and would connect easily to your iPhone. Total cost for both would be $898 or ~700 Euros. If you were also to buy the HD800s from Headroom they might be able to do a package deal for you. I know they had their Bithead on for $79 last year if you bought headphones over $50 at the same time.

 
Yes I know a DAC makes good difference, but to buy a good DAC for my iphone would be quite a bad idea since I only use MP3 songs in the iphone. Uncompressed music is hard to get your hands on, and requires a LOT more space, which is a pain indeed. 

Thanks for the tip about the Airhead. 
 

 

[Lan647]

Hi! I just wanted you to know that i've just tried out the HD 800's. The sound was indeed very crisp, balanced and neutral, though the bass was a bit weak with the amp i tried the cans out with. The leakage was a pain, but no big deal since the design itself was luxary, comfortable and robust.

For the record, I tried plugging them straight into the iphone 4. (too bad the headphone amp couldn't accept that kind of source).

The sound that came from my phone through the cans was actually not very bad. sure the mp3-files restricted the bass and the amount of detail, and the phone couldn't drive the cans really loud, but loud enough.

I think, that when plugging the cans to a decent amp like the Headroom total bithead through the 30pin input via an adapter, and when using uncompressed music - the sound will do for a time. Of course i'll buy a better amp, but I just don't feel that it is necessery for those few times I will actually use these leaky cans on the move.